#jesspicks - Issue #8

This week has been fun. The work week was short but super productive and I went to a few events. I realized that I am clearly a fan of photo booth situations with props. So must find more of those opportunities! :)

All kidding aside, it made me realize that I need to find more fun in my everyday life and invest in myself. That includes my health too! I am giving this 4-minute workout app a try - you do about 8 activities for 20 seconds each with 10-second breaks in between (spoiler alert: there are burpees). I’m doing it as soon as I wake up in the morning followed by lemon water. I feel that I can commit to those two things fairly easy. Baby steps right?

As I think through my professional development and things, especially updating my LinkedIn profile (see #ontheblog below), I’m really trying to figure out my JVP (Jess Value Proposition). I have my job where I help women tech startups, techbizgurl.com which focuses on women side hustlers, and then I have this other identity where I’m a Cisco-certified network ninja person - who can speak to being a woman in the tech field. I sometimes feel like three different people based on that, so I’m thinking through some theme or umbrella that everything falls under. Because I really want to be able to answer the questions of, “What value does Jessica provide to the world - no matter what hat she’s wearing?” There’s a common theme of helping women in all of those roles, but what do I really do and how do I help them? Something I’ll be noodling on for sure as I think through my personal brand.

On to the picks for the week!

Which pick below is your favorite? Anything you want to see more of? Less of? Hit reply and let me know. Would love to hear from you. :) xoxo

I went to a LinkedIn workshop for women a couple of weeks ago and I realized I was making a lot of the mistakes that the speaker talked about. And I figured a lot of other people could learn from these so I decided to write a recap of the session. I especially need to work on #3 and #4 - stat.

Personally bookmarking this one. Great lessons in here. My faves are creating a business you don’t need a vacation from, making time to play and remembering that time will pass anyways so do things you enjoy.

To-do lists are awesome but I really love this way of thinking through what you want to get done every day. It’s all about figuring out the main thing you have to get done and planning the rest from there. And any strategy that involves a post-it note is brilliant in my book.

My next birthday isn’t until 2017 but I love the idea of starting this tradition. It’ll make a huge difference in your life. And can be something to cheer you up, especially on those sucky days that you just want to stay under the covers and eat ice cream in your blanket fort.

I heart Jeff Goins and his podcast, The Portfolio Life, is one of my favorites. In this 20-minute episode, he talks about the habits, blogs and books he uses to help him in his full-time writing career. And that every writer should have. I’m a writer and so are you. You’ll love his 3-bucket system - it’ll make you think about the process of writing as three separate tasks instead of one major session.

“Don’t waste your time and energy fighting against where you are. Invest your time and energy into getting to where you want to go. And even if you have a good reason to be upset and resentful, let it go. Channel your energy into thoughts and actions that actually benefit your life right now.” ~Marc and Angel